Dear Alia,

Most of the rankings done in India are flawed and paid. They don’t reflect the true picture, which is very unfortunate for new aspirants. Don’t go by the rankings posted everywhere. They will misguide you. Just ask as many passed out engineers as you can. They’ll give you a good idea of engineering scenario in India.

ISM Dhanbad has always been considered among IITs even when it didn’t have the IIT status and was an independent university (ISMU).

Its hard to match the standards of IIT(ISM) Dhanbad when it comes to earth sciences. Mining and Petroleum graduates from ISM Dhanbad are considered and treated as ‘elite’ in their respective industries. Their alumni are holding top positions in huge multinationals.

As ISM boasts of a unique and strong senior junior relationship tradition (which you wont find in any other IIT), its much easier for students of ISM Dhanbad to come into contact with their alumni. No doubt their placement records are very good every year.

ISM Dhanbad was granted the status of an IIT in the year 2000 along with Roorkee Engineering College (now IIT Roorkee) but ISM alumni totally rejected the offer while Roorkee accepted it. You can understand by this gesture, what status ISM Dhanbad has been enjoying since its beginning in 1926. But slowly as new trades started being introduced in ISM, a need for IIT status was felt for the upliftment of branches in ISM other than Earth Sciences. Thus, it got an IIT tag recently.

IIT(ISM) Dhanbad is the best engineering college in India in its own sphere. Just like IIT Roorkee is considered best for civil engineering.

As you are concerned about IIT(ISM)Dhanbad. I will say that go for it ‘blindly’ (when you clear IIT-JEE) if you want a career in earth sciences. Its a descent college for other core branches too, as its firstly an IIT, secondly, it has a pretty good infrastructure (much more upgraded recently) and industry contacts. Also, student life is very good.

All the Best!